Reyes wants to bring Express to greater heights
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
JOSEF T. RAMOS
 SIX-FOOT-SEVEN center Jay-R Reyes, one of the few local athletic big men in the pro league, will now be joining 6’7” rookie Rabeh Al-Hussaini, defensive-specialist Nonoy Baclao and the rest of the Air21 Express next conference.
Reyes, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines, said it feels like he’s playing a rookie year with the Express and he is hoping to deliver his new team to the place they never been to – the championship.
“Right now, I’m comfortable with Air21’s system after few days of practices,” said the 26-year-old Reyes, who did not discuss anything about his former team Rain or Shine. “I’m just going to play all the best I can here.”
Reyes, who was one of three the original players brought by the Rain or Shine Elasto Paintmasters, when they entered in the Philippine Basketball Association in 2006, said he is aiming to bounce back from a poor performance last season.
“Last season, I had some injuries and so I struggled a bit,” said Reyes, who averaged at least 12 points and seven rebounds last conference. “I’m training hard now to improve my game more.”
Reyes was brought by the Elasto Paintmasters to the PBA in 2006 together with Jay Sagad and Jun-Jun Cabatu. Rain or Shine bought the Shell franchise also that year.
He spent his first four years with Rain or Shine and showed a lot of improvement from being a rookie to a go-to-guy big man.
Although the presence of Solomon Mercado and Gabe Norwood were there, Reyes’ playing abilty wasn’t set aside. He still remained a starter for Rain or Shine under former coach Leo Austria and Caloy Garcia.
Reyes’ defense and versatility are his assests besides to his shooting, rebounding, posting and other scoring skills. He can also pass and dunk to excite the crowd.
Those skills will be brought to Air21 now.
Reyes’ addition to the Express will bolster their line-up since they already have Al-Hussaini, Carlo Sharma and the shot-blocking artist Baclao this coming reinforced conference. |
Johann Heinrich Lambert G. Ramos serves as President of Linaheim Corporate Services, Inc., which is a proud member of the Lina Group of Companies. He was appointed President last January 2010...
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